Device for extraction of fishbones

ABSTRACT

A device for extraction of bones from fish by means of a number of pivotal gripping means which are moving influenced to be driven along a course for controlled pressing of fishbones against a counterstay. Said gripping means are influenced to be guided by a guide in the shape of a channel to co-operate with the counterstay for achieving the desired pressing force between the gripping means and the counterstay.

The present invention relates to a device for extraction of bones fromfish by means of a number of movable gripping means which are movinginfluenced to be driven along a course for controlled pressing offishbones against a counterstay, wherein said gripping means are guided.

A through EP 0 567 515 B1 known apparatus for extraction of fish bonesrelates to a rotating bone press member which catches the fish bones byco-operation with a counterstay which is curved following thecircumference shape of the rotating press member. The bones are grippedwith the same pressing force independent of the kind of fish from whichthe bones are extracted. The angle at which the bones are extracted isthereby also large which might imply that the bones risk being brokenwhen being pressed at such a large angle.

By means of SE patent application NO. 9501034-4, an apparatus is alsoknown for extracting bones from fish by means of a number of pivotallymoving gripping means which are moving influenced to be driven along acourse For controlled pressing of fishbones against a counterstay withsaid gripping means guided along a straight distance plate, howeverwithout being able to achieve the desired pressing force between thegripping means and the counterstay. The pressing force will be what itwill be if you do not carefully e.g. vary the size of the counterstay.

The main object of the present invention is therefore primarily to solvesaid problem with efficiently functioning means.

Said object is achieved with an apparatus according to the presentinvention, which is in the main characterized in that said grippingmeans are articulated via bearing shafts pivotally connected to a drivechain or a wheel to be positively forced to pivot with one of its endsaround the bearing, that a guide consisting of a channel is arranged toguide the pivoting movement of said gripping means Dy co-operation witha member upon it, during the period which the drive apparatus isinfluenced to move in the direction of travel and that the shape of thechannel is selected to be able to co-operate with a member of thegripping means, such as a shaft which is connected to it, wherein thegripping means are influenced to be guided by the channel to co-operatewith the counterstay for achieving the desired pressing force betweenthe gripping means and the counterstay.

The invention will be described here below as a number of preferredembodiments with reference to drawings in which,

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a bone extraction apparatus in a shown bonepressing position,

FIG. 2 shows the apparatus from below,

FIG. 3 shows a front view of the gripping means attached to a drivechain,

FIG. 4 shows a diagrammatic sectional view of a variant of a boneextraction device,

FIG. 5 and 5A shows still another variant of the device in co-operationwith a drum freezer and shown as a sectional view and an edge viewrespectively,

FIG. 6 and 6A shows a further example of a device and which. isillustrated as side view and longitudinal section respectively,

FIG. 7A-7D shows in magnification different views of grip co-operationbetween a counterstay and a gripping means, and

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of a fish cleaning machine in which thedevice according to the present invention is comprised as an essentialpart.

A device 1 according to the present invention for extracting bones 2from fish 3 by means of a number of movable gripping means 4, which aremoving 5 influenced to be driven along a course 6 for controlledpressing of fish bones 2 against a counterstay 7, has said grippingmeans 4 influenced to be guided by guide influencing means 9 toco-operate with the counterstay 7 for achieving the desired press forcebetween the gripping means 4 and the counterstay 7. The counterstay 7extends with an acute angle X towards a path 8 of movement for fish 3which the device 1 pulls out the bones 2 from and said angle ispreferably between 40 and 60°, especially about 50°.

The mentioned counterstay 7 extends substantially straight along atleast a substantial portion of its inclined part 7A.

The guide 9 is designed and adapted in order to distribute the forces inaccordance with the need and the kind of fish.

In a machine for automatic bone extraction, the adjustment of the guideis arranged to be produced by means of a motor, preferablyautomatically, via means for this or manually via separate controls.

The above mentioned gripping means 4 are articulated 10 connected to adrive device 11 to be controlled and influenced to pivot with one end 12around the bearing 10. The example illustrated in the drawings in FIG.1-3 shows how said gripping means 4 are via bearing shafts 10 pivotallyconnected to a drive chain 11. It is also possible to connect thegripping means to a rotatable wheel, 100, 200, 300, as e.g. is shown inthe further examples in FIG. 4-6.

Preferably, said gripping means 4 are double-sided attached in e.g. boltholes 13 of chains in which the bearing shaft 10 is received extendingbetween at mutual distances A from each other as seen from the side.

In FIG. 4-6 in the drawings is shown examples of application of theinvention in connection with a rotating operating head in the form of awheel 100, 200, 300, and where said gripping means 4 are pivotallyjournalled around a pivot bearing 10 which may be formed by a journalshaft which with its respective ends is received in holes 113 in theframe 101 of. the wheel at mutual distances. The wheel is carriedrotatable driven upon a shaft 102.

A guide in shape of a stationary channel 9, which may be open or closedsideways, is thereby arranged to guide the pivot movement 14, 15 of saidgripping means by co-operation with a member 16 on it during the timewhich the drive apparatus 11 is influenced to move in the drivingdirection 6, for example when one of a plurality of chain castor wheels17, 18 are influenced to drive the chain 11 in the drive direction 6 viaa motor. The shape of said channel 9 is selected so that it mayco-operate with a member 16 of the gripping means 4 or a member which isconnected to it, such as a shaft 16 which is connected to said grippingmeans 4. The channel 9 exhibits a substantially straight portion 9A theinclination of which substantially corresponds to the inclination of thecounterstay at its inclined counterstay portion 7A.

In order to further improve the function of the invention, thecounterstay 7 and the gripping means 4 are divided sideways 19 in themanner of ribs 4A, 4B, 4C, and so on, and 7 ¹, 7 ², 7 ³, and so on,respectively.

At each side of the rotatable journalled 152 rotating wheel 100, 200,300 is arranged a rigidly attached stand 150 which is attached by screwsto said cleaning machine, e.g. at a handle or at a floor mounted machinechassis. A guide channel 109, 209, 309 is present in the shape of e.g.apertures in the gables of said stand 150, extending in shape of thecourse with decreasing and increasing distance from the centre and it isdesired that an in it received, sideways projecting member 116 e.g. abearing shaft end 116A, 116B should follow when the wheel is rotated,wherein the gripping means 4 are controlled by force to pivot acorresponding amount as that which the actuator member 116 moves in thedirection from and towards the centre 151 of the wheel respectively, sothat one automatically receives the desired press function between thegripping means 4 and the appurtenant co-operating counterstay 107 whichmay be of a similar above described kind.

The function of the device should be evident from the above describedand the drawings. Briefly should be mentioned, that when the chain 11 isdriven in the direction according to the arrow 6, the gripping means 4are brought to. follow a course which is predestined by the guide 9. Thebone catching surface 7A of the counterstay 7 exhibits an inclination Xwhich corresponds with the course which the outer ends 12 of thegripping means 4 describe, whereby the entire device 1 may be drivenpractically free from friction. When the fish fillet 3 moves in thedirection of the arrow 8, the bones 2 that happen to come across raiseup against the inclined part 7A of the counterstay 7 whereupon thegripping means 4 clamp the bones 2 against the counterstay 7 and movesthe bones 2 along the counterstay 7 and further out from it. The guidemember 16 may be formed by a shaft extending through the respectivegripping means 4 and which may be journalled around its own shaft.

The corresponding is also true for the embodiment with the wheelconstruction which carries the pivotal gripping means 4.

Advantages with the invention are that the ribs 4 between in betweenlocated slits 20 and 120 respectively, press the fish meat down duringprocessing. Thus, the invention is also well suited to be used forextracting bones from white fish like codfish, coalfish, haddock withoutin doing so removing unnecessary large amounts of fish meat or riskingbreaking off the bones 2.

The length of the gripping means 4 may preferably be varied in order tobe able to pick the bones 2 out of a so called “dike” e.g. between theback fillet and the belly of the fish 3, and the counterstay 7 must indoing so thus be designed in a correspondingly suitable way.

The device 1 may preferably be adapted to enclose one part of a tubulardrum 500 or similar onto which the fish fillet has adhered by freezingas is shown in FIG. 5.

The technique may be used both in hand, operated machines as well aswhole or half automatic machines. Furthermore, the gripping means 4 may,according to the above, be arranged along the circumference of a wheel200, 300, 400 and which co-operates with a suitable counterstay. Thecounterstays may also be driven in the same direction as the grippingmeans are driven but at a slower speed than these.

The invention enables an exact proportioning of the press forces duringthe time (about 0,1-0,2 s) that it takes to extract a bone. To get upthe first approximately 5 mm is comparatively easy, then the object isto loosen the bone from its attachment in the fish which requires amaximum amount of grip. Therefore, the guide 11 should be designed andadapted in order to distribute the forces in accordance with the needand in accordance with the kind of fish. In an automatic machine, theadjustment of the guide is motorised and is handled automatically or viaseparate controls.

The bones are exposed for less mechanical wear due to the smallinclination of the counterstay 7 in comparison with existing machines onthe market where the bone is folded close to 90 degrees during theextraction process.

In FIG. 8 is shown a machine 600 which may be armed with four pickingheads in accordance with the above described and operating in pairs. Twolevels of cleaning takes place during operation, functional/technicaland bacteriological, respectively. The functional/technical cleaning isgoing on continuously while the picking heads are in operation. Thebacteriological cleaning takes place after automatic changing of theposition of the picking heads. Also the last-mentioned cleaning takesplace automatically and in closed accommodations inside the machine.Thus, the hygiene concerning the machine is very good and meets clearlystipulated requirements.

The invention is not limited to the above described and in the drawingsshown embodiments, but may be varied within the scope of the claimswithout leaving the inventive concept.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device (1) for extraction of bones (2) fromfish (3) by means of a number of movable gripping means (4) which aremoving influenced to be driven along a course (6) for controlledpressing of fishbones (2) against a counters, (7; 107), wherein saidgripping means (4) are guided, (characterized in that said grippingmeans (4) are articulated via bearing shafts (10) pivotally connected toa drive chain (11) or a wheel (100 200, 300) to be positively forced topivot with one of its ends (12) around the bearing (10), that a guideconsisting of a channel (9; 109; 209; 309) is arranged to guide thepivoting movement (14, 15) of said gripping means by co-operation with amember (16) upon it, during the period which the drive apparatus (11;100; 200; 300) is influenced to move in the direction of travel (6) andthat the shape of the channel (9; 109; 209; 309) is selected to be ableto co-operate with a member (16) of the gripping means (4), such as ashaft (16) which is connected to it, wherein the gripping means (4) areinfluenced to be guided by the channel (9; 109; 209; 309) to co-operatewith the counterstay (7; 107) for achieving the desired pressing forcebetween the gripping means (4) and the counterstay (7; 107).
 2. A deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein in that the counterstay (7; 107) extendswith an acute angle (X) towards a path of movement (8) for fish (3)which the device (1) pulls out the bones (2) from.
 3. A device accordingto claim 2, wherein in that the angle (X) is between 40 and 60°,preferably about 50°.
 4. A device according to claim 1, wherein thecounterstay (7; 107) extends substantially in a straight line along atleast a substantial portion of its inclined part (7A).
 5. A deviceaccording to claim 1 wherein, the guide (9; 109; 209; 309) is designedand adapted to distribute the forces in accordance with the need and thekind of fish.
 6. A device according to claim 5, claim 1, wherein in amachine (600) for automatic extraction of bones, the adjustment of theguide is arranged to be produced by means of a motor.
 7. A deviceaccording to claim 6, claim 1, wherein the adjustment of the guide isarranged to take place automatically via means for it or manually viaseparate controls.
 8. A device according to claim 1, wherein thegripping means (4) are double-sided attached in the bolt holes (13) ofchains at mutual distances (A) from each other as seen from the side(19).
 9. A device according to claim 1, wherein characterized in thatthe channel (9; 109; 209; 309) is provided with a portion (9A) theinclination of which substantially corresponds with the counterstayinclined part.
 10. A device according to claim 1, wherein thecounterstay (7; 107) and the gripping means (4) are divided transverselysimilar to ribs (4A, 4B, 4C etc. and 71, 72, 73 etc. respectively).